Secrets of Shadows
by Twilit Phoenix
Summary: A ninja clan lost to the ages returns in a wave of unstoppable force. In an effort to save Konoha, Tsunade sends Naruto and his friends out on a mission to discover the enemy's weakness. Will they discover the secret in time to save the village?
1. Chapter 1

Ok everyone, here is my newest fanfiction

I am somewhat saddened to say that the story isn't as long or as detailed as I originally intended it to be, but I've been sitting on the idea for a year now and I finally just now got around to writing it. I still hope you all enjoy it :)

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><p><strong>Chapter 1-<strong>

The wind lifted small clouds of sand into the air as the sun fell. The few ninja on guard duty paid no mind to the harmless shadows that flitted across the desert. A rogue cloud, a high flying bird, or even a thick batch of flying sand could cause them. The sand ninja held their positions, waiting for their shifts to end. Nothing happened at sunset; only the billowing sand moved out in the distance. As the sun slipped further downwards, the shadows grew, taking on humanoid forms, racing towards the cliffs before the guards took them seriously.

"Did you see those shadows?" asked one man. His partner fixed his glasses before replying.

"It's just the clouds, there isn't any one making them out there." The shadows moved up the mountainside as the sun finally dipped below the horizon in the west.

"Are you sure?" the first ninja asked, "they looked human-" The man's eyes opened wide in shock. He clutched his chest and fell over, dead. His partner gasped and fumbled to sound the alarm. Too late. He tumbled to the ground as well.

The shadows raced passed the fallen men, taking human forms without a physical body. They left the ninja, only the dead men's shadow an indication as to how they'd been killed. No blood, no cuts, no physical damage, until the shadows cast on the rock were examined. The two men both had kunai planted in their hearts.

Over the rocks the shadows moved silently. They leaped and paused, moving like the people they once had been. Soon, the group of 50 shadows crested the boarder to sand's hidden village. They stormed in uninvited yet unseen. They encountered few ninja on the way. Each one fell like the first two. They moved into the town.

Temari shouldered her fan as she walked towards the Kazekage's tower. She knew Gaara had wanted to speak with her and Kankuro but she had been sidetracked all day with other errands. As she walked through the houses, she could feel something in the air, something off. She scanned the crowd around her, but all she saw were civilians heading home. Three other ninja prowled the rooftops up ahead. In the distance she saw a massive shadow shift. She looked up; no clouds, only the sunset filled the sky. She reached back to touch her fan.

One ninja fell. He called out in panic and the two others moved to assist him. Temari paused and watched as one them tumbled from the building. She sprinted forward, yelling. She needed to get the villagers away. She wondered how an enemy ninja could get into their village undetected. It had been done before, but they had since increased the security.

The third man fell as Temari reached the body on the street. She reached to check his pulse and felt something sharp glide along her forearm. No blood appeared, and she had seen nothing hit her. Looking around as she moved, she shouted for the civilians to return home and stay inside. There was some confusion, but they obeyed her orders and moved to leave the area.

Searching further, she spotted a silhouette facing her on the nearby building. She spun to face the enemy, but no one was there. Confused and beginning to get frustrated, Temari felt more slices. Still no blood, but her arm stung and she realized something was amiss. She ducked and leapt to the rooftop. Behind her, the two ninja she had seen before lay dead. One looked unharmed. The other bent into an uncomfortable position. It looked like his arms had been snapped and pulled from their sockets. She ignored them as best she could and glanced down at the street below. She spotted the ninja's shadow once more.

It stood in one spot, searching the area just as Temari had done. The silhouette reached for a weapon and drew several throwing knives as a mother and daughter hurried past. Temari's breath hitched. She opened her fan and waited for the ninja to attack so she could catch him off guard. The civilians passed the shadow and for a moment Temari thought he would lunge. The shadow raced across the road, moving across the woman's own shadow before vanishing. Temari noticed the mother's hair ruffle as the shadow moved, but the two did not otherwise act alarmed.

She thought to herself. It could not make sense. To create the path the shadow had just taken, the ninja would have had to run in front of the two. Surely they would have jumped or looked surprised, but they had reacted just like they had seen nothing.

A scream sounded to her left. She could see other ninja jumping to the source. The mystery would have to wait while so helped out the others. She moved to follow them until she felt her head explode with pain, and she collapsed against the roof, her fan falling over her.

The sand ninja were in a panic. The enemy was everywhere, yet they were nowhere. The first ninja had fallen only ten minutes ago, but already the attack had reached the center of the city. Some of sand's ninjas were finally starting to catch onto the shadows, though fighting them was difficult.

With no physical bodies present, there seemed to be nothing to attack. A giant puppet dropped onto the sand behind two ninjas fighting as best they could. The sun had set completely and the street was only illuminated by the lights on the buildings and the glowing moon.

Kankuro had gotten better, even in the urethral light, the threads of chakra controlling the puppet were nearly invisible. It scurried after the shadow ninja, thrashing about. Kankuro saw the spot where his puppet landed. A dark stain stood out. It took on a vague human shape, except flattened to the ground. Kankuro manipulated his puppet as he studied the spot. Had a shadow been there when his puppet had landed? No one else could even land a hit, and here the ninja shadow lay dead.

He wondered at the jutsu used to control the shadows. It had to be some long range attack that was pretty powerful. Either that or the controllers needed to be good at hiding. Kankuro figured that it was not much different from his own jutsu. The shadows were obviously being controlled, since they were not clones as he originally thought.

Suddenly, the puppet stopped responding to his cues. He glanced over, fingers twitching, and he saw three shadows surrounding it. Each shadow held tight onto the puppet. He saw the shadow's arms reaching against the ground, disappearing into his own puppet's shadow. The other sand ninjas all lay unmoving on the ground. They appeared to be sleeping since they did not look injured.

Dropping the threads on his left hand, Kankuro grabbed three kunai and threw them at the shadow nearest him. His grin was short lived. The weapons embedded themselves into ground where the ninja had stood. It was as if the kunai had no effect; they moment they landed, the ninja stepped sideways, leaving the weapons in the street. Kankuro pulled at the puppet strings again and forced it free. The shadows fled, darting against the walls and behind boxes. The hooded sand ninja called back the puppet and stood tall. The shadows had vanished. An explosion and loud screams filled his ears, he ran towards it.

When the sun rose the next morning, the city was in a panic. Many of villages' ninja were critically injured if not dead. Even with the sun, the shadows had not vacated. There was still fighting in the streets.

The door to the Kazekage's tower was flung open. Kankuro helped Temari through the door, his arm over his shoulder. Gaara looked over as they entered. Temari pulled her arm back so she could support her own weight and spoke.

"Have you found out anything?" she questioned.

"A bird has been sent," Gaara replied, "are you two ok?"

"Fine," Temari nodded. Kankuro agreed.

"They haven't come to the tower yet?" Temari asked.

"No," replied Gaara, "and the sand has no effect on them." the two siblings looked to the gourd at their brother's back. Nothing was immune to the enhanced sand's power when their brother yielded it.

"So they can't be killed?" Temari questioned. Her grip tightened on her fan in her hands, "what are they?"

"They _can _be killed," Gaara stated.

"How?" Temari asked, "There's no physical body to attack. All we ever see are their shadows."

"The shadows can be killed," Kankuro said, "My puppet crushed and killed one of them."

"So the enemy is nothing more than the shadows?" Temari wondered aloud, "how do you fight shadows?" The question hung in the air between the siblings until another ninja threw open the doors.

"The attack has stopped!" he exclaimed even as his breath came in short gasps.

"Were the shadows defeated?" Kankuro questioned.

"They left the city and fled East," the messenger explained.

"They didn't flee," Gaara spoke. He moved to look out the grand window in his tower.

"Kazekage?" asked the messenger; he sounded worried. All excitement had vanished from his voice.

"Warn Konoha, maybe they'll be more successful in defeating this enemy then we were," Gaara ordered. He turned to his siblings, "let's go." They left the room to assist the injured sand ninja still in the village.

A message was written, including all the observations collected of the enemy. Notes on how they moved and when they attacked, no matter how trivial were included, anything to aid sand's allies. A bird was released into the air, the note tucked into place, warning of an enemy to come.

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><p>So, I hope it sounds interesting enough. All the chapters will be relatively short, just a warning and the story will only be about 4 or 5 chapters in total.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

I've gone over the grammer and spelling, but if you find anything, please forgive me (though send me a message if its really bad). I really didn't want to reread it for a third time to proof...

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><p><strong>Chapter 2-<strong>

Tsunade sat at her desk absentmindedly starring out her windows. A pile of papers sat waiting to be filed; she would get to it eventually, or maybe if she was lucky, she could get her assistants to do it. They knew how much she hated paperwork. The day was young and the sun shone brightly in the clear sky.

The door opened to reveal Sakura. The girl frowned at the stack of papers on the hokage's desk and strode into the room. Before she even reached the desk and could begin to chastise her mentor, Shizune rushed into the room, Tonton the pig in one arm and a message in the other.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked. Shizune handed the message over to Tsunade.

"This just came from Sand," she explained. Sakura and Shizune stood in silence as Tsunade unwound the message and scanned its contents. When she finished, she looked up.

"What does it say?" asked Sakura, tilting her head to the right curiously.

"They've been attacked," Tsunade stated.

"Should we send reinforcements?" Shizune offered.

"The enemy left the village. The Kazekage believes they won't come back to attack again," Tsunade read.

"Who attacked them?" Sakura questioned, "Which village?" Tsunade was silent as she scanned the message once more.

"It wasn't a village," she said, "It says they were attacked by shadows."

"Shadows?" asked Shizune. She set Tonton down at her feet, "Shadows can't fight." The pig scurried away.

"That's what it says. The enemy took the form of shadows with no physical bodies present. Attacks seem to have no effect on them, yet they can kill opponents," Tsunade paused in her reading, "and it goes on to state that the shadows are heading this way." Sakura took the note from the hokage and read through it herself.

"What are you going to do?" asked Shizune.

"Send reinforcements to Sand, just in case. They can gather more information on the enemy from the survivors." Shizune nodded and left the room to find suitable groups to take on the mission.

"Did you read this part?" Sakura asked; she proceeded to read when Tsunade looked over, "While numerous ninja were injured or killed, no civilians were involved. Almost every ninja was attacked, including off-duty ones with no physical marking to distinguish them as such. Even though the villagers were in attack zones, none were injured. No reports of injured children were found either. They seemed to target only ninja with training, including recent academy graduates and retired elders. What do you think about that?"

"Find Shikamaru," Tsunade stated, "see what he has to say about this." When Sakura left the room Tsunade rested her forehead against her hands and sighed. And here she thought the day would be uneventful.

She would have to dig through the archives later. The fighting shadows were familiar to her. She might just be mixing the Nara bloodline with this unbeatable enemy, but she could have sworn she had seen it before.

The door swung open in less than an hour as Sakura lead in Shikamaru. The ninja sighed and looked around, wondering why he had been called here on such a perfect day to cloud watch.

"Sakura," Tsunade stated. The pink haired ninja nodded. Tsunade handed her a sheet of paper, "I need you to find these records in the archives." Sakura took the paper and left the room. The hokage turned to Shikamaru and got right to the point.

"Sand was attacked," she stated, "they described their enemies as shadows. I need you to look at this and see if you notice anything new." She handed him the letter. She would have called his father, but she knew for a fact that he was out on a mission. The genius of the rookie nine would have to do.

"There were no actual ninja manipulating the shadows?" Shikamaru asked.

"None were reported," Tsunade replied.

"Why did you want me to see this?" he asked.

"Does this sound like your bloodline technique?" The hokage asked bluntly. Shikamaru leaned forward and put the message on Tsunade's desk. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment.

"It seems as though the shadows were capable of conscious thought, like summoning animals," he explained, "our technique isn't able to summon shadows, only manipulate another through our own shadow. I haven't heard of anyone doing what these ninja have done."

"But you both use techniques that involve shadows," Tsunade stated, "maybe these enemies are related to your clan."

"Could be," the boy shrugged, "I haven't looked through the historical records for the family to know for sure." Tsunade nodded and dismissed him. She hoped Sakura had better luck.

-0-0-0-

Sakura opened the locked door that lead to the archive room. As she walked through the aisles of dusty scrolls and books, she glanced down at the page to see what she was searching for. Looking to the shelves, she began dusting off the titles. This room was hardly ever used, so the dusty was caked onto the volumes in thick layers.

An hour of two later, surrounded by open scrolls, Sakura found what she was looking for. Tsunade wanted the scroll, not an oral report, but the medic could not help not reading the information. It spoke of the shadow users and their history. Shikamaru's clan name was mentioned a few times, as well as another name that she had not yet heard of.

She read on, learning about a rift in the clan over applications of the technique they both shared. The two factions split to create the two now distinct clans. They both used shadows. The one left the village and had not been heard of for at least a hundred years. She unrolled the scroll further and found a handwritten section. It read; reports of the clan were found in the mountains outside of Stone. They are reclusive, but reports indicate they are perfecting a new technique. No further surveillance could be conducted. Scouts were all killed mysteriously by bleeding gashes that had no physical cause. Previous scouts reported ninja from the clan vanishing when being pursued and the last sight of them was fleeting shadows.

Looking up, the first thought that came to mind was the ninjas had turned into shadows to escape. She ruffled her hair and took a deep calming breath. She closed her eyes. There was no way they could have simply become shadows. There were too many logistics to work around. While chakra was easily enough to manipulate into a simple shadow or even a false form, truly morphing a full physical body would require much more knowledge and power. There was no way they could have simply become shadows. She stood and gathered the scrolls together, returning some and holding onto the important ones. She closed the door behind her and headed up to Tsunade's office.

She handed the three scrolls she had gathered to the hoakge. The one on top was the one she had skimmed over, while the other two simply made references to the mystery clan of shadow users. On the desk, a small pile of books and reports lay untouched. They had not been there when Sakura left the room before. She figured Shizune had delivered them just before she arrived.

"Sakura," the hostage stated. She turned and looked up at her mentor.

"Be prepared to be out on a mission," she stated. The girl nodded and left the room. Tsunade sighed again. She reached for the books and scrolls and leafed through them. Time was of the essence. She read through the reports and the message from Sand again. After hours of reading, she came to a simple conclusion. The enemy only attacked those who could defend themselves. They only attacked other ninja, not civilians. The conclusion only left one course of action. She didn't want to leave the village helpless, but she also would not want to put her ninja in danger if it could be avoided. With her mind almost made up, she skimmed the remaining journals and scrolls to see if there was anything else.

She came across the clan's most basic records. It stated they were a branch from the same clan as the Nara, as she had expected. Being a small group, they kept their secrets well-guarded, so not much was written. Further down the page it was recorded that the already small group was further segmented and recently too, compared to the age of the rest of the document. Reports found the one group in the mountains of Stone while the other had moved away from the ninja world entirely. This was news to Tsunade.

The paper said nothing of why the split had occurred; only that it did. Contact was lost with both groups, though a basic location had been given for the small fraction that left the ninja domain. The place was far to the south and only on certain maps; even then, it was often drawn falling off the edge. It was similar to the civilian villages except the people there knew nothing of ninja at all. They believed them to be a thing of the past.

A plan came to mind, more complete then the first. This one could work. It was both offensive and defensive where her first had not been. She called Shizune and together they wrote up the numerous mission papers.

That evening, Sakura was called to the hokage tower. She suspected this was the mission that Tsunade had hinted about. She opened the doors to the office to find she was not alone. Nowhere close. The other two squads from the rookie nine as well as Sai, Lee, Tenten, and Neji were crowded into the room. With everyone present, Tsunade cleared her throat; everyone looked to her.

"What's the mission Tsunade?" Naruto questioned eagerly. Sakura walked over to him and hit him over the head for his impatience and sat down beside him. He whined and rubbed the spot but quieted down.

"I'm assigning you all on a very important scouting mission," the hokage began, "you will be collecting infor-"

"A scouting mission?" Naruto complained, "That's lame Tsunade…" Sakura hit him again. He fell off his chair and landed with a thump. Kiba scooted his sideways, putting some distance between him and her. Hinata watched Naruto with concern as he scowled and rubbed his forehead again.

"As I was saying," Tsunade continued, "you will be searching for a group of ninja in an academy in this village where they are living."

"Why can't we ask the clan directly?" Kiba questioned, "won't they be easy to find?" Tsunade just glared. The ninja in the room took the hint and remained silent as she continued to lay out the mission.

"Our most recent recon says the group is still practicing ninjutsu and is located in one town only. The elders remain hidden in their compound, but the younger members all attend the nearby academy. You all will enter the school as students and try to find out who the ninja are and what they know. Any questions?"

"So we don't know exactly who the targets are?" Shikamaru asked.

"No," Tsunade started to say, "they don't want to be found out, so you'll need to be secretive. We don't know how many there are either. Any information you can bring back will be helpful.

"So that's why you're sending all of us?" Tenten asked, "Surely just a plain scouting mission would require less of us."

"We don't know what we're up against, so it would be better to send all of you."

"Why are trying to find them?" asked Naruto.

"When you find them, we need to know what they know about shadows. Bring that information back with you when you learn it."

"How long is the mission set to take?" Neji asked.

"There is no time constraint," Tsunade said, "until I call you back, you are to stay until you bring back the information." The ninja nodded that they understood.

"I've given everything you'll need to blend in to Kakashi, Asuma, Gai, and Kurnai. You'll be staying in your old teams in an apartment nearby their academy," she explained, "and one last thing. This place you're going to, no one aside from the clan you're looking for knows about ninja or anything related to the ninja world. It would be wise in your search to keep it that way. Good luck." The meeting was dismissed; the ninja left the room. Tsunade opened her bottom drawer and downed the bottle of sake, for this was only the beginning.

The room was dark as it always was; the torches did little good in the master's chambers. It was intimidating to lesser minions, but Sasuke was never impressed. Orochimaru had called for him a short while ago, but Sasuke had waited just enough time to prove he was still in control. He was not one of the nameless sound ninja who could be summoned to do his bidding in an instant.

"Sasuke," Orochimaru hissed when the ninja entered the room. The young man said nothing, keeping to the shadows.

"I have a mission for you," Orochimaru stated after the silence had stretched too far, "you are to bring back to a me a ninja of shadows. I require their power." Sasuke said nothing. The mission was simple enough; he would be done within a matter of days and go back to his own business.

"This scroll has everything you'll need," Orochimaru added as he looked to the wrapped scroll at his left. Sasuke took it without a word and left the room.

"Hurry back Sasuke," smiled Orochimaru. Sasuke suppressed a shudder and returned to his room. He pulled open the scroll and vanished in a puff of smoke.

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><p>The newest chapter is complete :)<p>

Be happy Sasuke's in it XD


	3. Chapter 3

Next chapter is up. enjoy

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><p><strong>Chapter 3-<strong>

Kakashi flipped on the lights to the apartment and walked inside. They had just arrived in the new town. It was more similar to a new world for the ninjas. The buildings were different; the world was paved with concrete and asphalt to within an inch of its life.

Luckily they had landed in a grassy park with an old school playground, something they would be familiar with. It had taken them three separate teleporting scrolls and all day to reach the spot. They only had to walk across the street to reach their apartment. The school was across another street past the parking lot on the other side. Tsunade had told them that the whole building was theirs to use for the mission. There were four separate two bedroom units in the building, each team got one to use.

Naruto, Sakura, and Sai stumbled in after Kakashi. They did a quick check to make sure the rooms were enemy free and then settled in. They didn't question why the fridge was stocked with food or how Tsunade had even gotten this place for them to stay. There was only one question as the four of them sat down eat a late meal before they went off to bed.

"Where is everyone sleeping?" Naruto asked.

"There are two beds and four of us, so it would make sense-" Sai began to say.

"I am _not_ sleeping with you!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing at Sai and then waving his arms.

"We have a couch," Kakashi pointed out. His food was already gone, so he leaned back in his chair and closed his one visible eye.

"Guys, this really shouldn't be that difficult," Sakura sighed, "she glanced at the clock, "we need to be up in 7 hours, so hurry up and solve the issue." She vanished and left the boys to finish the debate. They followed her to bed shortly after, having worked nothing out. Naruto crashed on the sofa and left Kakashi and Sai to decide what they wanted.

The morning came too soon the next day, but only Naruto seemed to be complaining. Their uniforms waited for them on the table, each one perfectly pressed and ready to be worn.

Naruto grumbled about going to class after graduating and received a hit over the head from Sakura as she buttoned the last button on her white blouse. Kakashi walked into the room in what could only be described as a casual suit. He would have looked normal, except he had not taken off the mask or his headband.

"Kakashi-sensei, your mask," Sakura stated. He shrugged, a smile decorating his eye.

"Nice try," he laughed. The front door was thrown open and Ino hung inside the door frame.

"Let's go!" she called, "everyone else is downstairs. We don' want to be late on our first day." Kakashi and Sai moved to follow her. Naruto called out before Sakura could move as well.

"What?" she asked, losing her patience. There was no way she was letting Ino beat her here. Naruto winced.

"Can you tie this?" he asked, looking down in embarrassment. Sakura softened her expression and reached out to tie his tie. When it was complete and tucked into his blazer they both grabbed their bags and left the house.

As a group they walked to the school. Kakashi, Kurnai, Asuma, and Gai passed out their class schedules and the girls immediately went to compare them.

It turned out that each team had the same schedule, give or take a class of two. They were all juniors, except for Neji, Tenten and Lee who were registered as seniors. Shikamaru, Neji and Sakura all had an advanced math course where the others did not. Other than that, they had identical classes.

The teachers wished them luck and vanished. The ninja gathered together as the normal students began to flood the school. They had ten minutes until classes began. Shikamaru called their attention to him.

"Ok," he said, "we need to keep an eye out for this group of ninja. If you see anything suspicious, tell the others. We should stay in groups since we don't know what to expect from this clan." The group nodded. They broke into their teams and searched the school. They drew several looks from the other students when they would peer around corners first or check behind staircases and doors, but other than that, they blended well. They found their designated classes before the bell and waited for their teachers. They moved through the day as the normal students did and worked through their literature, math, history, and science classes. At lunch they compared notes.

Tenten, Neji, and Lee had secured them a large table outside. It was a pleasant spring day and the outside air felt good after being inside all day long. Slowly the group filled in. Hinata joined them last, her face flushed, heart hammering. She took her seat between Shino and Neji and took a deep, calming breath.

"What's wrong Hinata?" questioned Ino.

"N-nothing," the girl squeaked, "I just thought I saw some who looked familiar."

"Who'd he look like?" asked Kiba with a mouthful of French fries.

"An old boyfriend?" Tenten offered with a smirk. She gave Neji a sideways glance to see his reaction as Hinata turned crimson. His face showed nothing as he continued eating his sandwich. Hinata shook her head.

"No," she replied hastily, than she lowered her voice, "he looked like Sasuke." The table stopped talking. Naruto and Sakura tuned their attention to her.

"Where?" Naruto asked, his gaze deadly focused as he rose to his feet.

"Naruto," Shikamaru glared. He pulled the boy back into his chair by the back of his shirt without even looking up at him.

"Tell us what you saw," Neji stated calmly.

"In the front hallway I saw a boy walk out of the restroom and into the admissions office," Hinata recited, "He looked like Sasuke. He had the same hair and skin tone, and he walked the same way.

"Why would he be here?" asked Ino.

"Do you think he's attending the school as well?" Lee questioned.

"He did have the school uniform on," Hinata answered quietly.

"The chances of it being him are slim," Shikamaru said, stating the obvious.

"It's him," Naruto said bluntly.

"Could he be after this clan as well?" asked Choji after he swallowed a particularly big bite of food.

"We should make sure it's him before we jump to conclusions," Neji said. The group nodded.

"I'll look around the cafeteria," suggested Ino, her eyes sparkling. She got up to search.

"She knows the cafeteria has three lunch times right?" Shino mumbled. Choji's eyes lit up.

"We have to be sure it's him," Sakura stated. Then she added, "the mission changes if he's here."

"The mission doesn't change," Shikamaru announced, schooling the annoyance from his voice, "we just need to be extra cautious until we know what's going on." The bell rang and the group nodded. Ino returned as they were gathering their things to head back to class.

"No Sasuke," she sighed, "but some of the guys here are _attractive_." She dragged the word out to show she meant it. Sakura sighed and pulled the girl along with her to their next class.

The news of the Sasuke sighting had the group on edge for the rest of the day. Each of their teachers had been alerted, but as the day went on and not even a stray chakra signature was detected, Hinata began to question what she thought she had seen.

The sighting had delayed their original mission intent; they returned home after classes with nothing to go after in regards to the hidden shadow clan. No one had found any chakra in the school to follow, which had initially thrown them off in regards to Sasuke. The group felt that he could not keep such a powerful chakra completely hidden from them.

They ate together in team eight's apartment and let themselves forgot the mission for a time. They had homework to do to keep up their student facades.

In the living room of the same apartment the Gai, Kurnai, Asuma, and Kakashi discussed the plan. None of them had come across anything suspicious. The Sasuke sighting had put Kakashi on alert, but no one would guess it from the way he acted. Their jobs as temporary teachers allowed them to be on watch for suspicious activity under the guise of watching out for the students. So far there was nothing, but it was only the first day.

-0-0-0-

The first week passed with no new information on either the hidden clan or Sasuke. Naruto was first to express his dismay at the lack of progress. It wasn't for lack of trying either. Lee had made a fool of himself at trying to talk to students about revealing the secret he was sure they were in on. Aside from thinking him even weirder then they probably already did, no one approached him after his wild ramblings of weird occurrences that had not happened.

The girls were more tactful, but still nothing had been learned. The only thing they had accomplished was alienating themselves from the normal students. They returned each night more determined to find any tidbit of information they could, either about the shadow clan or Sasuke. It took until Thursday of the next week for Sakura and Ino to notice something important as they prepared for physical education class.

They saw how conversations changed when students entered or left the groups they stood in. How a group of girls could go from saying how cute the dress someone had to cursing her when she stepped away. Or how the quiet whispers turned to forced smiles and loud voices when more boys pushed their way into a different conversation. The two kunochi turned to each other, realizing what they needed to do. At lunch they explained their plan to the others.

"We need to become like the students," Ino stated, "blend in."

"But we are," Tenten replied.

"But we stay grouped together," Sakura explained, "we only go to class, and we don't have friends or people we talk to outside of our group. We aren't really a part of the school."

"We aren't here to become part of the school," Neji countered.

"But if we want to learn secrets about everyone and find what we're looking for, we need to be," Ino explained.

"What do we do?" Lee questioned, "We cannot go about wasting our youthful-!" Tenten slammed her hand over his mouth before he could scream more about their flowering youthfulness that was being wasted. Some students had turned at his outburst, but turned back quickly.

"We need to split up," Ino announced.

"And become involved," Sakura added.

"How?" Naruto asked.

"They have sport team tryouts going on this week," Ino offered.

"The school has clubs too," Sakura suggested, "so if we split up and join some after school activities we might be about to find some information." The group nodded, but without much enthusiasm.

After school, the 12 ninja split up and headed to where the clubs and teams they had chosen met. Tryouts for sports were held outside, so Naruto, Lee, Tenten, Ino, and Kiba headed there. Sai found the art room, where he preceded to discover other blunt artists much like himself. Sakura and Neji went to discover where the athletic trainer was; who they were informed was the nurse of the athletes. Sakura stayed and asked if she could apprentice the trainer; the man gave her a funny look over the term, while Neji examined the three students' chakra who sat with ice in the room. He found nothing and left in silence.

Hinata found herself in a group of excited girls in the gym where the dance tryouts were being held. Choji wasted no time finding the restaurant club. He made it known he was only there to eat. The others gave him strange looks, and then decided it would be a good thing to have a taste tester around. Shikamaru did not even need to move from his last class. The chess club met where he had math. It would be too troublesome to move, so he stayed.

Ino and Tenten followed the boys outside and waved them off when they reached the track and baseball diamond. Lee was ready to run; the girls felt sorry for the other students who were looking forward to the track season. Naruto and Kiba joined a growing group at the baseball diamond. The volleyball court and soccer field were a longer walk for the two girls, but they were soon joined by others with the same intentions who seemed to careless that they did not know them and were glad to chat.

Naruto watched the girls vanish and stood with Kiba in the group of guys interested in trying out for the baseball team. The two had never played the sport before, but the rules were simple enough and it involved athleticism that the ninja clearly had. Hinata had explained the game to Naruto right after school. She told him that they had played the sport in physical education class and went over basic game play.

"Everyone take five laps around the field!" the man who Naruto assumed would be their sensei called out. The boys raced off. After the third lap some of the guys slowed, panting hard. Naruto and Kiba kept pace easily. After they ran the laps, the coach made them partner up and toss a ball back and forth.

Naruto and Kiba split up and each picked a partner. Kiba's partner had no aim, but he was good at making sure he was always where the ball would be to catch it. Naruto and his partner did fine, neither well nor awful. They were simply consistent.

An hour passed and the coach made them run the bases, perform wind sprints, and practice swinging a bat to see their form. Naruto and Kiba, for never using a bat, did well after missing the first few balls thrown their way.

They were then split in half, half of the boys on the field and half to bat. Naruto stood at the plate, swinging the bat in his hands. The boys in the field stood ready. They weren't playing, just practicing running to first base. The coach hurled the ball and Naruto swung. The following crack that sounded made the boy grin ear to ear and he ran for first. The ball sailed towards the fence. No one needed to know that he had put a little extra into the swing, thanks to his chakra. He overran first and looked up to see where the ball landed.

"Heads up!" shouted the coach. The blond saw a lone figure walking under the path of the ball outside the field. Naruto's gaze narrowed when the boy did not even look up. Instead, his hand shot up and caught the ball. He stopped walking and looked at it with a bored expression and then over to the coach. Naruto and Kiba stared.

"Sasuke," Naruto breathed in disbelief.

"Hinata was right," agreed Kiba as she stood to join him. The coach squinted and the waved the boy over. When he didn't move, he yelled at the outfielders to fetch him.

They ran his way. Naruto watched as they spoke with Sasuke and pointed at the coach. He did not know what he expected, but it was not what happened. Sasuke returned with the two boys and walked past Naruto and Kiba without a glance.

"That was a good catch," the coach said with a grin. He extended his hand and Sasuke dropped the ball into it. Sasuke said nothing. "I think you should stay for the rest of tryouts." Naruto held his breath.

"No," Sasuke said. He spun around on his heel and began to walk off. The coach grabbed his shoulder and turned him roughly to face him once more.

"Look," the coach stated, his voice was commanding, "I know you have talent, you could be great." Before anything could happened Naruto called out.

"Forget him," he stated mockingly, just like he had done when he was little and on the dark haired boy's team, "he won't join the team even if you begged. Besides-" Naruto paused for effect before he finished the statement that he knew would irk his old teammate, "he's really not that good anyway. Even I'm better then he is." Sasuke turned to stare at the blond; he glared in typical Uchiha fashion.

"Boy," the coach scowled. Naruto waited to see, locking eyes with his once best friend and rival, if Sasuke would take the bait.

"Give me the bat," Sasuke said, never looking away. The coach handed it to him.

"Batter up!" he shouted at the field. The boys moved into position as Sasuke stepped up to the plate. The ball flew; Sasuke swung; the air shattered. It cleared the fence just as Naruto's had done. Kiba whistled at the length the ball bounced beyond that. Sasuke walked passed Naruto and sneered. He made no move to run to first plate though.

"Beat that," he added. Naruto grinned back, amused to find Sasuke playing along.

"You know, you need to run the basses too," Naruto suggested. Sasuke scoffed as if he already knew that fact.

Tryouts ended three hours later. Everyone was exhausted, even Naruto was sweaty from the drills. He knew Sasuke was up to something. The boy he knew before acted much the way he did now, not at all like how Sai, Sakura, and him had seen in the dessert. Either something had changed or he was putting on an act.

The coach read off his list of names, naming the three ninja and twelve others from the group of almost thirty students. They were informed practices were everyday after school and they were mandatory. He dismissed them. Naruto and Kiba fell back to wait for Sasuke and find out what he was doing here.

* * *

><p>This was the entire reason i had this idea. I thought about chakra and sports in a normal school setting and realized that they would be awesome with that advantage. Hence the reason the story was written. Though i had first thought about it with football, but realized that high school football tryouts are generally before school even starts, and they wouldn't make any sense...<p>

Enjoy


	4. Chapter 4

new chapter up!

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

The lights on the field flicked off as the coach left, leaving the setting sun to flood the diamond with red light. Sasuke stood alone. Naruto and Kiba approached him slowly. Sasuke watch them near; they all stood in silence for a moment.

"Why are you here Sasuke?" Naruto questioned. Sasuke lifted the corner of his mouth in a lopsided grin.

"The same reason you are," he answered. Kiba tensed. Naruto nodded.

"You haven't found them yet either, have you?" he asked. Sasuke took a breath, frowning, and titled his head to the side; a silent no.

"That's what I thought," Naruto stated and he shouted out when he saw Sasuke turn and walk away, "hey wait!" Sasuke said nothing.

"You should join our search," Naruto called, "together we have a better chance of finding them." The statement made him pause and let out a single laugh, not a real laugh, but still a laugh.

"I have no need-" he began to say.

"You haven't found anything yet, together we can cover more ground," Naruto stated, "be our teammate again."

"No," Sasuke said forcefully. He turned and moved off. Naruto growled and lunged; Kiba was too late to stop him as he closed the distance between them. Sasuke turned and caught the fist Naruto had aimed for his head.

"Why not?" Naruto snarled. Sasuke gave no verbal answer, instead moving to punch Naruto. The blond caught the punch. He had improved in the time they had been apart; there was no way Sasuke could deny him that fact. They stood locked together, struggling, glaring. Kiba was unsure how to interfere with the two. They seemed to have things under control. It was probably a good thing that neither had their arsenal of ninja weapons on their person; although the rasengon and chidori needed nothing that they did not already have.

An unbearably long silence passed until both boys released each other and stood straight. It seemed they had come to a silent agreement. Without another word, they both turned and walked away; Naruto returned to Kiba and Sasuke vanished.

"What was that about?" Kiba asked as they walked home.

"He agreed to share what he finds as long as we do the same," Naruto explained as he walked, looking ahead. Kiba just stared and did not question it. He had never really understood the Uchiha before, why would now be any different?

They came home to find everyone doing homework. When asked about what happened, they explained they made the team. After answering questions about the other boys who had made it onto the team as well, Naruto shared his news.

"Sasuke's on the team too," he stated. The room was silent, then filled with a chorus of noise as questions were thrown at the two of them. Naruto waited with uncharacteristic patience until it was quiet, at least somewhat.

"He's agreed to help us search," Naruto added.

"Why?" Tenten questioned.

"Because we're looking for the same thing," Naruto replied, "and if we find something-"

"He wants us to share it," Shikamaru finished the statement and Naruto nodded. The room was silent.

"Well," Ino said.

"We won't need to worry about him giving up our cover," Hinata added. Agreed mutterings of the word 'true' were passed around the room.

"I don't trust him," Neji said slowly, "or what he's up to, but as long as he doesn't get in our way-"

"Or us in his," Lee said thoughtfully.

"This could work," added Sakura.

"I don't like it," Shikamaru stated bluntly.

"If we don't find anything we don't have to tell him anything," Chouji offered. That fact seemed to placate the genius some. They spoke little on the Sasuke topic and they split for bed.

-0-0-0-

The girls had been correct in their observation on the cliquey nature of the students. Once inside, the teams learned things they had never guessed. Most was useless gossip, such as who was dating who, who was doing things they should not be doing, and where the parties were happening each weekend. Each club had different people to examine, and the gossip they had to sort through was always skewed.

Though none of the groups ever talked about ninja in the school, some events were suspicious. The injuries that Sakura tended to were too deep sometimes, too perfect to be normal. Some of the soccer girls Tenten played with were too connected with each other. But each of the events could be contributed to something else as well. They tried to debunk them all while playing the roles of normal students.

Every day they went to class and then to practices, and every day they found no outstanding evidence of this clan's existence. If Tsunade had not said that they were here, they would never have guessed it.

Another week and half passed with nothing to go on. The only news they received was Naruto and Kiba's announcement that the first game of the season was Friday, and that they should all come to watch. They agreed, since they had gone to Ino's volleyball game earlier in the week. The team lost, but it had been a close match and was at least exciting to watch. Tenten and Lee had yet to bring news about their own sports games.

-0-0-0-

A large portion of the school gathered at the diamond, filling the stands. The rookie nine, Sai, and team Gai split up to better watch everyone. Neji and Hinata sat at the top of the bleachers above the dugout. Every now and again one of them would scan the area for chakra signatures, always finding nothing. They had focused on Sasuke when he appeared on the field to bat. He had hidden his chakra well. He swung and sent the other team scrambling for the ball.

A lone girl sat on the bench in front of them clapping each time the team got on base. She seemed to be really into the game. Hinata recognized her from her history class, but the girl made no move for conversation.

Three innings later the two Hyuugas had found nothing out of the ordinary. They noticed that Naruto hit a homerun in the second inning, but nothing else was exciting enough to mention. It was not until a student who they had never seen in either of their classes rushed up to the girl. He was a senior with black hair, completely normal, until Neji and Hinata heard what he said.

"What are you doing here alone?" he hissed at the girl. They felt the smallest hint of chakra. The cousins paid attention to his words while attempting to be engrossed in the game neither of them had ever completely understood and did not plan to learn.

"You know what your father said about going off without one of us," he continued. Hinata looked at the two of them. She would have guessed them to be siblings, but maybe there were like Neji and herself, only cousins, or some other blood relation.

"That was only because I couldn't defend myself before," the girl whispered, "but I shadowed yesterday for the first time, remember. I'm strong now. I can look out for myself." Neji and Hinata gave each other little sideways glances. They were unsure what they were hearing, but it sounded like two ninja talking, two shadow ninja. The boy glanced around and grabbed the girl's arm.

"Come on, we'll discuss this somewhere else," he hissed. He pulled her to her feet and practically raced down the bleachers. Neji and Hinata followed after them, leaving the baseball game behind them. They passed screaming freshman girls trying to call Sasuke to look their way. The targets vanished behind the concession stand into what looked like a storage room.

Neji and Hinata both activated their byakugan and crept inside. Two chakra signatures flared to life before their eyes. Hinata suddenly wished they had a long distance fighter with them to stop the two in case it came to blows. At least they know what they looked like now to track them further.

The chakra vanished after another moment and the cousins stepped into the room completely, coming face to face with the two ninja. They looked up in surprise. The girl looked back and forth between the two other ninja as the boy took a step forward.

"Students aren't allowed-" he began to say

"You're breaking that rule as well," Neji interrupted, "we need to speak with you two privately."

"Were you following us?" the girl questioned.

"We have some questions-" Hinata started to say.

"Look, whatever you're doing, you're looking at the wrong people," the boy stated. He began to pull the girl towards the door. Neji let his chakra flare slightly and activated his eyes. The two reacted instantly.

"What do you want?" The boy asked slowly, finally seeing them as a threat. Hinata moved to take a step forward and found she couldn't. The two stood frozen before the shadow ninja.

"How?" she muttered. Neji blinked and his eyes returned to normal, as normal as his Hyuuga blood allowed.

"Our village needs information," Neji stated.

"Our clan isn't for hire," the boy replied, misinterpreting the statement.

"No," Hinata clarified, "we need you to tell us how to defeat shadows." She worried she had not heard the hokage as well as she though when she spoke the words because the other ninja did not react.

"Why?" asked the boy finally, his curiosity sparked, "why do you need that knowledge?"

"Our hokage sent us to retrieve it, it was our mission," Hinata added. Under normal circumstances, mission objectives were not discussed, but this situation lacked usable information. Tsunade had not disclosed much to them before they left. Silence fell between all of them for a moment.

After quiet deliberation, Hinata and Neji were released from the mysterious bind they had been under and the boy answered their question.

"We need to discuss the situation with our clan. We will meet you tonight at 10pm out on the soccer field with our answer," he stated. Neji and Hinata nodded. The two shadow ninja walked out of the door and vanished. Neji could feel a small rush of chakra, but it soon faded. Nothing of them remained to follow.

That night, after all the baseball spectators had gone home and even the custodians had finished cleaning, the twelve ninja from Konoha gathered on the soccer field. Sasuke was there as well, but he hung back from the group slightly. Naruto and Kiba hummed with energy from their big win from before, but kept quiet with the others as they waited. Their sensei's stood amongst them, keeping lookout with rest of the them. 10 o'clock struck and the shadows deepened.

At the far end of the field, figures appeared. They walked forward, growing in number as they moved closer. There seemed to be twenty of them. The boy who had met Neji and Hinata earlier led them. When they reached centerfield, they halted and he stepped forward.

"Our clan has agreed to let you know the secret only if you tell us the reason why," the boy explained.

"But we weren't given a rea-" Naruto shouted. Sakura punched him lightly in the arm.

"If we tell you," she called out, "can we be sure you won't give us faulty information?"

"You have our word," a young man in their group promised. The boy nodded. Sakura turned to her own teammates with a question in her eyes. None of them knew the worth of these ninja's word. After a moment they seemed to believe they could trust them. What other choice did they have?

"Our allies were attacked by shadows. The shadows seemed to be able to move, think, and act on their own. They are headed in our village's direction," Sakura stated. The Konoha ninja were silent as they thought about what she had just said.

"Why do you need our help?" asked one of the shadow ninja.

"We can't defeat them or even land an attack," Sakura replied, "We need to know how to defeat them to keep our village safe." The others nodded in agreement and turned to look across the field.

"We accept your reason and will help," a ninja stated from the others.

"So you'll tell us how to defeat them?" Tenten asked.

"We'll do even more," he answered, "we will help you in their destruction." The whole group drew close and stood in an even semi-circle facing the Konoha ninja. They ranged in age from 25 to 12 years old, the youngest batch of ninja from their clan no doubt.

"Why are you going to help us fight?" Shikamaru asked bluntly.

"Because they are traitors to our clan who abused our ability and must be stopped before they can destroy us for banishing them," one of the shadow ninja stated.

"Why are they traitors?" asked Hinata quietly.

"You banished them?" questioned Kurnai.

"They belonged to the same clan," Sakura recited from the scroll, "but a disagreement drove them into two different sects."

"A disagreement over how our power was to be used," came the answer, "humans are not meant to be without a physical body for long, no matter if they have the chakra for it or not. That is our ability, become shadows and nothing more for as long as we can hold onto the form without losing our humanity."

"And these others wanted what?" Neji questioned.

"They wanted to leave the physical realm entirely and simply live as shadows. Shadows don't need to breath, eat, open doors or anything of the sort. As a shadow, one can fashion chakra into any weapon without actually having it. I guess they succeeded in becoming one with the shadow world."

"How do you fight a shadow?" Kiba questioned.

"These shadows are simply a form for their chakra. Attacks and weapons can kill them if they use chakra as well. The enemy can only be affected by other chakra attacks, so they aren't hurt with taijutsu and normal physical moves.

"Which is why they didn't attack civilians and only focused on ninja," Sakura stated to herself as it made sense in her mind.

"Genjutsu, if strong enough, will work. Elemental attacks, because they are created with chakra, will work. Weapons, if laced with chakra, will also work. The most important thing to remember though is defense, watch your own shadow."

"Why?" asked Lee.

"They can only attack you through your shadow. They move remarkably fast as well, so keeping an eye on the enemy will be difficult. It would be best to take them on in a location that is open but provides cover to block your shadow from extending too far. Noontime is also a good time, since it's when your shadow is shortest and easy to guard."

"Does that answer all your questions?"

"I think so," came the collective reply from Naruto and his friends.

"Then we are ready to leave," the boy stated. "When will you return home? We shall follow."

"We were going to teleport back," Kakashi stated, "we can bring everyone along if all of you are assisting us. We can leave whenever you are ready." The Konoha ninjas had been prepared. They left the apartment the way they found it and changed back into their normal clothing, leaving the school uniforms behind. They had brought nothing, so they needed to take nothing back.

"We're ready now," one of the shadow ninjas announced.

* * *

><p>One more chapter to go...<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Last Chapter.

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

The teleportation scrolls were produced and together, all the ninja moved back to the hidden leaf village. They appeared at the gate in bright sunshine. The time difference was strange; they guessed it to be late afternoon.

They were happy to home, even with the situation at hand. Sasuke hung back once more, unsure how he was going to complete his mission now. Being around Naruto had somehow made him act as he did when he was younger. He kept to the edges of the group as he worked out his dilemma.

The senseis paused in observation of the group and the city. Konoha seemed too quiet, not to mention the fact that no one guarded the gate today.

"I'll tell Tsunade we're back," volunteered Sakura, she leaped away to the tower. One of the shadow ninja spun to the north and stared directly into the trees, almost looking through them.

"The shadows are here," she sated. Everyone turned to look in the direction where the young ninja stared.

"Where?" Neji questioned, his eyes already switching to use his byakugan.

"Past the forest in a clearing four or five miles north of here," another ninja explained.

"How can you see them?" asked Lee, squinting.

"We can _feel_ them," a boy stated. Sakura returned just then.

"Tsunade says-" she began to say.

"They've found the shadows. They're close Sakura," Naruto explained hurriedly, "we're going now."

"But she needs someone to relay the information we've learned," Sakura explained as Naruto pulled her wrist.

"Gai and I will take care of it," Kurnai stated.

"Lee, let us go give our reports to the hokage!" Gai called. Lee nodded sternly; he seemed to understand that his awesome skills in the taijutsu area would not be of assistance in this fight. They vanished. Kakashi and Asuma followed after their students who followed the shadow ninja. The ninjas lessoned in number as Chouji and Kiba were told to go back by Kakashi. He did not doubt their skill, but their attacks were not the best to face their enemy's powers with. The remaining ninja burst into a clearing and halted at the tree line.

"Remember, only chakra can touch them," one of the shadow ninja stated. Silently the new clan shifted into nothing more than shadows. The Konoha ninja stared at the spaces where they stood moments before and looked on, dumbfounded. It was not until Shikamaru felt a tap on his shoulder that they all realized the new clan had not left them completely. Noticing the numerous shadows that stood against the trees mixed with their own shadows they realized they had really turned completely into shadows.

Tenten jumped when she felt someone grab her wrist and open her fist, calming only slightly when she felt several kunai handles pressed against her palm. She looked to her shadow and saw another shadow next to it; she figured it was one of the shadow clan, standing beside her. She closed her hand, watching as her shadow grabbed the kunai, even though the weapons did not exist in the physical world. She watched as the others were given shadow weapons and well.

They remembered what they were told, that physical weapons charged with chakra could wound or even kill the enemy. Weapons seemed easy enough to make for the shadow ninja since they passed out four or five each to all the Konoha ninja and had plenty more for themselves. The presences in the field shifted and several ninjas felt tugs on their clothing, pulling them out to the center of the field.

"It begins," Asuma stated. The enemy had shown itself and their allies charged. It was all Naruto and his friends could do to keep up. With no physical drag, the shadows moved quickly across the grass. They made no sound to follow when they moved or with their attacks. Neji, Hinata, Sasuke, and Kakashi were the most suited for this battle, since with their eye abilities they could see some form of chakra the shadows were made of and not just the fleeting shadows.

Ino attempted a mind transfer, surprising herself when it worked on something that was only chakra, even though it was a sentient being. She kept up easily with the shadow clan once they recognized her chakra signature within the enemy. Shikamaru's shadow jutsu worked on the enemy as well; as he figured it work since it was a similar technique. Tenten took advantage of the captured shadows and vanquished them with her shadow weapons. Once she ran out of them, she only needed to charge her favorites with a little chakra for them to be just as effective.

Naruto felt several slices across his arms and face from near misses with the enemy. He was not as watchful as the others were. If they had been physical injuries, he would be bleeding, but he appeared to be physically fine. He had used all his shadow kunai, knowing he hit at least one when he went after two or three of them. Sasuke raced past him, the two nearly brushing sides as they passed each other. The Uchiha's eyes were swirling; it was hard to catch the shadows in his genjutsu, but when he did, it worked as if they were normal human beings.

Hinata screamed, drawing several looks in her direction. Sakura was at her side in a moment, along with Neji. Around them, the silent battle went on. It was impossible to know how many enemies they faced when their allies almost looked exactly the same. Neji looked down at his cousin with concern.

"What's wrong?" asked Sakura. The medic examined Hinata and found nothing unusual.

"The chakra pathways in her leg have been severed," Neji stated. He watched their shadows as Hinata curled up in pain. Sakura nodded and placed her hands on Hinata's leg. Her fingers glowed with healing chakra as she set herself to reconnecting the broken lines that fed chakra through the girl's limb. She could feel the clean cuts, almost as if the enemy had sliced through them with a sword or kunai. If the pathways to their hearts were cut, any one of them would die. She had no time to wonder if that was what happened to the sand ninja.

After a tense minute, Neji defending all three of their shadows in that time, Sakura finished and Hinata no longer felt any pain. The connections were still healing and raw, but they would survive the rest of the battle.

The others still moved in what appeared to be a one-sided battle. Shadows raced passed; they brushed up against the ninja's own shadows, leaving their arms or sides tingly with the touch of chakra. There was a slight difference to the shadows, just enough to tell them apart if they were not moving too fast.

Sakura spotted one of the enemies, the shadow not as long as her own in the setting sun, and aimed her last shadow kunai at its heart. The weapon hit home along with another from a different direction. She looked around for more. The field was oddly devoid of movement.

"They've stopped," Neji spoke. Sakura watched Ino return to her body and frown at the shadow beside her.

"You nearly killed me!" she gasped. The shadow she spoke to shifted back into physical form. The man wobbled on his feet and apologized to the blond girl profusely. She just made an 'hmpf' sound and crossed her arms. The field filled with human beings again, joining the Konoha ninja.

"They've been defeated," the eldest of the group announced. The shadow clan looked ragged and somewhat transparent as they grinned and let up a cheer. Naruto joined in, as did some of his friends.

"What about the rest of the clan?" asked Shikamaru, "did you find out if they have more ninja somewhere, waiting to exact revenge on us once we let our guard down? Or did you kill them all?"

"They have a stronghold in Stone," a small girl said. She clutched her wrist, ignoring the fact that it was broken. She didn't seem to care that her hair hung at odd angles as if half of it had been caught in the path of a flying blade. "We'll go there once we regroup."

"We'll help," Naruto offered. He rubbed his left shoulder to try and force the pained feeling he had in it away. Sakura made her way to him after she patched up Tenten.

They all seemed to have suffered minor chakra related injuries. The shadow clan had fared much worse. From what she could see, there were several broken bones and some bleeding to be stopped. It seemed the shadows could only inflict physical damage in their own world. The shadow ninja waved her away, saying they were fine and would get their own medics to look after them. Sakura shrugged and returned to her teammates.

"We won't need your help," one of the boys stated, answering Naruto's question, "we'll only need to relay the location to the rest of our ninja, and they'll join us. They've been searching for this since the clan left this land. Though, we appreciate your offer." The Konoha ninja nodded. Their mission was complete; their village was safe once more. They watched the shadow clan vanish into the forest and turned for home. It wasn't until they reached the front gate that they noticed someone was missing.

"What happened to Sasuke?" Ino questioned. Kakashi and Naruto cursed their lack of attention and searched the area.

"He's long gone by now," Neji added, scanning the forest, "there's no sign of him." Naruto cursed out loud and the others looked at their feet. They had let the Uchiha slip out of their grasp when he had been so close. Sakura calmed Naruto down as best she could as Shikamaru reminded them all that Sasuke had not been a part of their mission to begin with. Only the knowledge that they had prevented an all-out disaster from befalling their village let them rest easy as they went to check in with the hokage and return to their daily lives.

-0-0-0-

Sasuke marched into Orochimaru's chambers, his right hand clenched into a fist. The man watched as he threw open his hand and propelled what looked like nothing but air forward.

"The mission?" Orochimaru asked, looking at Sasuke with excitement.

"Successful," the boy stated. He turned and moved for the door.

"Where is the ninja?" Orochimaru questioned, his eyes narrowing.

"Right in front of you," Sasuke answered bluntly, "It's none of my concern if you cannot find what you've requested." He shut the door with a firm sound that echoed throughout the underground liar, leaving the room exactly the way he found it when he walked in.

* * *

><p>Tada! The end! Did you like it? Was it worth maybe an hour of your time?<p>

Did Sasuke bring him a shadow? Hmm…

I wish I had had the time a year ago to write this when I actually had great plans for it, but this is what it boiled down to. Sigh… oh well, I hope you enjoyed reading it.


End file.
